Building on the momentum of the thousands of volunteers that came out to transform 10 blocks along Main St. in Mid City last January 2016, this year the community cleanup efforts will extend to a 4-Day Festival Of Service from Friday 1/13/17 to the Monday 1/16/17 to paint even more murals, cleanup 2x as many blighted properties, and help fix-up houses in the surrounding neighborhoods.

A public hearing covering issues related to the Bayou Bridge pipieline will take place on Thursday, January 12, 2017. The hearing will be held in the Oliver Pollock Room of the Galvez Building, 602 North 5th Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. All are welcome to attend.

The Baton Rouge Association of Minority Firefighters (BRAMF) is a non-profit community based organization that strives to promote firefighters in a positive light within the community. As a part of their service to the community, they are sponsoring the Stuff the Truck Christmas Celebration on December 17, 2016.

This Stuff the Truck event will collect toys for underprivileged children during the holiday season. These toys will be given to the Department of Children and Family Services.

There are several ways to contribute, online and several drop off locations.

To contribute now, go to www.eventbrite.com, keyword "Stuff The Truck"

New (unwrapped) toys maybe dropped off at the following Fire Stations from December 7-16, 2016:

Station No. 7 located at 5758 Claycut Street

Station No. 9 located at 4025 Perkins Road

Station No. 12 located at 555 Government Street

Station No. 14 located at 4121 Harding Boulevard

Station No. 19 located at 1101 Coursey Boulevard

On Saturday, December 17, 2016, you may drop off toys from 8am-1pm at the EpiCenter located at 6220 Florida Boulevard.

Join The 821 Project for Tea and Truth as the group explores building multicultural coalitions and collaborations in south Louisiana communities. Through this dialogue, we seek to expand understandings of sociocultural issues locally, nationally and globally.

Tea and Truth will be hosted at the Main Library in Room 2B on December 14th, 2016 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana for police brutality victim Alton Sterling Sterling, 37 was brutally murdered June 5 after he was shot by police at a store, where he regularly sold CDs.

This will be a heartfelt service on World Human Rights Day honoring Sterling’s life featuring powerful speeches, songs and poems, addressing the issue of black lives being loss at the hands of law enforcement across the nation.

A Captain D’s is proposed for the vacant parcel located on the north side of Government Street, to the east of South Foster Drive. The Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on the proposal is November 14 at 5pm, City Hall, 222 St. Louis St.

Please consider attending the meeting to express your opinion to our council members about the proposal!

Coffee on the Porch engages the role of the porch as a forum for building community. In the casual atmosphere of the porch, there is no agenda and there are no requirements besides being yourself. Porches are places where we meet our neighbors, share stories, and pass traditions. Coffee on the Porch is a free, monthly community gathering held on the last Friday of the month on front porches throughout Mid City Baton Rouge.

Robert Travis Scott, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, will moderate the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s upcoming EBR Mayor-President Candidate Forum on Oct. 18. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the forum will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Baton Rouge Magnet High School Auditorium, 2825 Government St. BRAC board members will pose questions that are modeled closely to the six issue areas that BRAC identified in its election platform. The event is free and open to the public. Get more information.

Many of us within the Baton Rouge community have been deeply saddened by recent events. Baton Rouge is a community that prides itself on a co-mingling of all who live here. Recent events have angered and shocked people. Those people are using their right to peacefully assemble to make their voices heard. Unfortunately, when violence begets violence, those voices become muffled. It is for this reason that we feel this peaceful protest and gathering is essential. We ask all people throughout our community who wish to come together as one in a peaceful manner to join us. Baton Rouge needs our voices. Baton Rouge needs us all.

n response to the recent events in Baton Rouge, Dallas and throughout the country, Ambassadors of Light will be offering a series of free community classes to promote union in our city. “Yoga for Unity” will begin on July 31st at Ambassadors of Light Yoga Studio on S. Acadian Thruway.

Cool off and join us at the WHYR station on Main Street for another progressive social! Step behind the scenes at WHYR and get involved. Meet and mingle with old and new friends and help strengthen the network of progressives in Baton Rouge.

On Martin Luther King Day, we will begin the Dialogue, an opportunity for people of diverse backgrounds to speak frankly and safely about racial issues, learning from each other about the impact of prejudice and institutional racism. The Dialogue recognizes that racism is not an “us versus them” issue. Racism is an institutional construct built into our system; much of it exists unintentionally and indirectly. However, as long as racism exists, our institutions operate to the advantage of one race over another.

Each week, participants read short, pre-assigned articles to prepare for discussions led by trained facilitators. Dialogue on Race Louisiana is a non-profit whose core program is the Dialogue on Race: Original Series. It provides a safe space for honest discussion on the issue of racism. It's an important step in a journey toward enlightenment, understanding and the elimination of racism from our society. $25